Hat-trick of wins puts City of Stirling front and centre on national stage

The City of Stirling continues to set the standard for the local government sector, winning a hat-trick of awards across a diverse range of categories at the 2025 National Awards for Local Government.
 
The National Awards for Local Government, now in their 39th year, are run by the Federal Government to celebrate excellence, innovation and impact in projects that can serve as inspiration for other councils.
 
The 2025 awards attracted 192 entries from across the country, with the winners announced on Thursday 26 June at the Great Hall at Parliament House in Canberra.

The City entered three of the 13 categories – Cohesive Communities, Productivity through Infrastructure and Addressing Violence against Women and Children – and won all three.

City of Stirling CEO Stevan Rodic travelled to Canberra to accept the awards from Kristy McBain MP, Federal Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories.

In the Cohesive Communities category, the City was recognised for its Walking Together Local Convos community engagement initiative, designed to deepen connections, identify local priorities and get everyone involved in shaping what it means to be “a local”.

Over the 30 days of September, the City hosted a walk in each of its 30 suburbs, collaborating with community groups to broaden reach and creating online opportunities for those unable to attend in person.
 
A key outcome was the development of the top five local priorities for each of the 30 suburbs, which have been used to inform planning and budget processes for 2025/26 and help the City listen and respond with a local focus.
 
In total, 1,120 community members joined a walk and 3,542 people cast their vote on local priorities.
 
The winner of the Productivity through Infrastructure category was the City’s $20 million redevelopment of Stirling Leisure – Hamersley Public Golf Course.
 
The redevelopment was headlined by an entertainment-focused two-storey driving range with radar ball-tracking technology, digital simulation gaming options, lounge seating and food and beverage service.
 
It also included a new 500-person bar and restaurant, a new pro shop with a WA-first putting simulator and one of the City’s biggest ever public art projects.
 
The redevelopment scooped the pool at this year’s Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia WA Excellence Awards, winning the overall prize for WA’s top local government engineering project.
 
Approximately 265,000 people have visited Stirling Leisure – Hamersley Public Golf Course in the six months since it reopened, compared to the previous average of 100,000 per year.
 
The City also took out the Addressing Violence against Women and Children category at last night’s awards for its leadership of Naala Djookan Healing Centre in Mirrabooka.
 
Naala Djookan Healing Centre is a one-stop hub for women and children at risk of or affected by family and domestic violence, offering a range of integrated and evidence-based services to help them on their healing journey.
 
The City leads a consortium of 10 specialist partner organisations, managing and delivering the hub service model and supporting the partner organisations.
 
The only local government-led hub of its kind in WA, the centre aims to simplify access for women and children by providing trauma-informed therapeutic services in one safe, inclusive and culturally responsive location.
 
Mayor Mark Irwin said the trio of wins was a credit to the passion of the City’s employees and the depth of talent across the organisation.
 
“We have some very capable and innovative people at the City who are committed to making a difference in our community,” Mayor Irwin said.
 
“When you combine that with an Executive Team and Council who back them in and support their ideas, you end up with award-winning projects like this.”
 
Last night’s ceremony comes after the City won its third consecutive Best in Sector award at last month’s Australasian Reporting Awards for producing the best annual report in the local government sector in the Asia Pacific region.
 
“What stands out to me is that we’re winning awards across a broad spectrum of issues, from the way we engage and communicate to social services and infrastructure,” Mayor Irwin said.

“I think we’re raising the bar for local government and that’s something our Council and community can be very proud of.”